Why partner with Forbes Design Center?

Trusted Resource

Even the best contractors rely on our expertise to ensure every detail is considered. We work with clients from discussing the vision and reviewing drawings to ensuring accurate measurements and proper installation.

Experienced

Our family has been in the home improvement industry for a combined 70 years and has seen the trade evolve. Onsite experience and continuing education perfectly balance tradition and technology.

Value

Forbes Design Center doesn’t just order your materials. We work closely with our clients to understand the scope of the project before presenting tailored options. Our team visits the worksite throughout construction and remodeling.

You deserve one less thing to worry about.

Even ten years down the road, we handle any problem, question or concern that comes up. We stand by our product no matter what happens. Forbes Design Center’s warranty/service follows the product – we provide quality service for life.

Our Team

As a family owned business, our goal is to provide our customers with an enjoyable experience as we help turn their house into their home. For each of us, our primary focus is to understand each customers needs, wants, concerns, and expectations in order to find the right product and create a tailored experience, not build for the masses. We understand investing in your home can be a stressful process. With a combined 70 years of experience, our team focuses on finding the solution best suited for you, ensuring you receive the best value for you and your home.

Doug Forbes

OWNER

Doug graduated from Boys’ Latin in 2004 and holds a Business Management degree from Loyola College of Baltimore. He grew up with a passion for the building industry. Since he could walk he has been involved in his father’s lumber business, and even misses the glamorous days of dusting the hardware store. At the onset of their recent sale of Reisterstown Lumber Company, Marvin Window and Door eagerly partnered with Forbes Design Center for a grand showroom in Baltimore County. When he’s not working, you can find Doug playing squash, golfing or teaching his mother to flip on the wake-board.

Pam Forbes

SALES

Pam holds a teaching degree from the University of Maryland and pursued a career in counseling. Once her children grew of age, she began selling hardware at her husband’s business. If you have ever gone through the process you know there are many decisions to be made, and it is her passion to find the right solution for each customer. After 25 years of selling hardware, Pam has a reborn excitement in her family’s new business. If you don’t find her on the job site, she is playing tennis, with her grandchildren, or wake-boarding.

Rick Forbes

ENGINEER

Rick is a graduate of a five-year program from Franklin & Marshall College and Columbia University. He also holds a Master’s of Engineering from the University of Maryland. Go Terps! With 40 years of industry experience, Rick specializes in structural solutions for all stages of the building process. Throughout his career he has learned that homeowners like to customize their home and at Forbes Design Center he is tasked with making that a reality. In his free time Rick enjoys golfing, horses, and taking his wife, Pam, wake-boarding.

Elliott Lipple

SALES

Elliott has spent 35 years providing homeowners with turn key window replacement solutions, including 12 years spent with Marvin. Elliott enjoys being out on the Bay with his wife and family. Little known fact: he is a world class ballroom dancer.

Our Story

We are a new company but in no way new to the windows and doors business. After 40 years as owners of Reisterstown Lumber Company, our family learned what it means to put the customer first in order to create mutually advantageous relationships. Our family saw a business opportunity to sell Reisterstown Lumber Company and open a premier showroom and design center in Baltimore. At Forbes Design Center, we provide customers with an unrivaled window and door shopping experience. Our company was founded on the same family values instilled by Charles Forbes when he opened his lumber yard in 1926: honesty, passion, community, accountability, and hard work. Although the business name has changed, our values remain. Forbes Design Center includes our family name because it is our mission to treat every customer as if they were part of our family. We believe that every customer deserves to have a fair and honest experience, which is why we put our customer’s best interests before our own.